June 8 - June 14

Monday, June 8, 2015
Well I thought I was caught up.  Guess what.....NOT!!!!  My desk was nice, clean and beautiful when I went in this morning and i had a "to do" list that I knew I had to work on and low and behold - nothing got done.  It was one of those days that everyone needed something and needed it now.  That is the way with the end of the school year.  I made it  through and we are good for tomorrow!!!  I hope.....

John W. North is working on offering come college credit for our students on campus so I met with the professor today of the first class we are offering and I am happy that she and I get along so well.  She will be a good influence on our students.  She is realistic and we will be able to have study groups for the students as we move forward with the semester.  The kids are going to meet on North's campus at 2:15 pm and the class will go till about 5:30 pm.  A lot of their work will be done during the school day with tutoring hours so that piece is good for the kids.

Today was the theater position interviews.  Wow, I learned so much sitting in on the interviews and listening to Michelle talk "shop" with the interviewees.  That was an interesting experience and we did end up with a selection that we are happy with and we are super excited about.  Today we also found out the guidance counselor we wanted accepted the position and will be joining us.  We are excited to have her also.  We think it is a good match for our department.  So, two down and now a science, social studies and SH to go......

It is Senior Celebration time at North.  It amazes me how much they celebrate.  So let me just list.
1.  Senior Awards Night - May 28
2.  Baccalaureate - June 5
3.  Senior Grad Practice - June 8
4.  Senior Sunset - Pool Party - June 8
5.  Senior Breakfast - June 9
6.  Grad Practice - June 10
7.  Graduation - June 10
8.  Graduation Night at Magic Mountain - June 11

  This does not count all the little things.  Tonight was the first time we did Senior Sunset and it was cool.  The students loved it.  The Carl's Junior Food Truck came and fed the kids who got to play in the pool.  Some of them floated on tires, others played water polo and others just hung out in the pool.  The kids would go down to the food truck and come back up.  It was really great and they had Veggie Burgers!!!  I was able to sit and talk with Jesse Paulos who is one of the newer math teachers in the department that really wants to do some new things that are innovative and willing to share with others.

After Senior Sunset, I went back to the office where the time flew by as I cleaned up and tried to get things in order that ended up all over the place.  I should have taken a picture of my desk because you would be surprised.  At least it is at a point that I cam come in and work tomorrow!!!!

Tuesday, June 9, 2015
I am so tired!!!!  I can hardly stay awake.  I got three hours of sleep on Sunday night and now only another three on Monday night.  I am in one of those tired moods where I am so tired that I cannot sleep so anything that I do I am having difficulty with right now.  I spent the day running around and putting out fires while not really getting anything done.  I need to move carts around, get things set up and deal with some other issues but it is just hard to get it all done.  I left at 6:00 pm, since I did not get much sleep the past two nights.  I got to Murrieta and decided to see if there was time to get my nails done.  I stopped by Princess Nails and they said they would do them for me and it was a much needed break to be able to sit and just relax for a bit.

 I sat with Squeak and Husky that night a good bit and I think that Husky liked the company.  She was knocked out and I promise you I thought she might be dead based on how still she was and the weird position she was laying it.  Really, you could not see her breathing at all.  Don't worry - she is alive.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Today was a busy day for me.  I had to review applications for a special education teacher and a science teacher.  While this is not hard to do and I enjoy looking at the applications, the issue really becomes the system we use and how it must be navigated.  It is time consuming.  I printed them out and picked my favorites and then let the department heads look at them to choose their favorites from the pile to interview.  Hopefully we will get someone good from the interviews.

In addition, my friend from the East Coast, April, is leaving soon to move back east.  April and I have a unique kinship in the fact that she was a graduate student at USC in the athletic training program and was looking to move to CA since her fiancee was here.  April was hired in October 2013 as our Athletic Trainer and we became fast friends.  April and I worked on a $300,000 grant that we were awarded and now she is leaving before the grant is in motion but is doing all the planning to help out the new athletic trainer and myself.  I hate that she is leaving now!!!!!!  She is now moving back east because her husband has a new job.  All of the coaches are upset she is leaving as well.  Every coach donated to purchase her a gift.  We got her a back back training kit since she will be working at a clinic and traveling to high schools to work.  

Wednesday was also graduation.  I did not have to dress and march this year but I was able to send my PhD hood to be in graduation.  April did not have a hood so she was going to walk without colors so we sent her with my hood!  LOL!!!

This is the guidance department I work with.  From left to right is Keri O'Neill, Rolando Flores, Alison Lattimer, Erin Martinez and Miranda Taylor.  Keri, Rolando, Ali and Erin were reading names at graduation.  This goes really quick since they alternate reading names.  Each of these individuals worked their tushie's off this year with getting students to graduate.  Erin and Ali were at school late Tuesday night trying to get a student to finish their credit recover classes to be able to walk.  They are an amazing counseling staff and I am very lucky to be able to work with them.  We are adding another two members this summer.  We have a new school psychologist coming in and a new guidance counselor.  We are very excited!!!

Guidance Staff

Graduation at John W. North High School

Graduation went off without any problems other than a student who got sick in the bathroom and had to go to the hospital.  It was a hot morning and students had been sitting in the theater all morning, then went to the field to practice and were released at 12:00 pm.  Students then had to be back at 5:00 pm dressed and ready to go.  The sun was shining down and students had on their dressy clothes under their graduation robes, therefore making it hotter than students are normally use to and causing some to get sick even though they had bottles water.    The second mishap was after graduation when a parent was walking out and mis-stepped, therefore falling.   The family immediately wanted to write a incident report and started talking about filing claims.  This floors me!!!!  Really!!!!  Be aware of your surroundings people.  You walked on the campus and this is new construction so there are no cracks or uneven pavement so there is no reason for filing a claim.  As the police officer stated.  If he goes running on the sidewalk and twists his angle while running, you don't sue the city, it was your choice to run in that area.  I feel the same about graduation as well.  People need to take responsibility for their actions.  

After graduation, Rich had me take him up to the office and I truly thought he was picking something up, but he opened the door, walked over and opened a bathroom for a student, then walked back and handled me his keys as he closed the door.  He got his belongings and left.  I have to say that I cried.  I mean I knew he was retiring but I honestly did not think he would just hand me his keys as he left!!!      Rich did come back on Thursday for the luncheon but I could not be in the same room without getting upset.  We will just have to say our goodbyes later when there is no one around.   I keep telling Rich that he is just going to have to have lunch with me like he did his other friend once a month!

Thursday and Friday was prepare for summer school days.  I spent the majority of the day dealing with parent issues, phone calls, moving things around and cleaning up for summer school that is to take place on Monday, June 15.    I know I will have to work over the weekend but at least I feel like progress is being made toward getting cleaned up and ready for summer school and next year.

Saturday involved errands, errands and more errands.  I got the car cleaned, did grocery shopping, picked up my diploma, dropped off some boxes that had to be mailed back to the company, and did a few loads of laundry.   One of my favorite people came to see me on Saturday for lunch also.  I don't see this person enough in my life and the time I spend with them is truly valuable to me.   I often wonder if the people I don't see often think of me as much as I think of them.  I hope they do!!

I was at work by 3:00 pm on Saturday and stayed for Michelle Grotness's retirement performance.  It was fabulously funny and entertaining.  Lots of former students who came back to say goodbye as well as adult supporters there for her.

Michelle being roasted!

Michelle singing on stage!

Celebrating Michelle's successes!

On the way home at 11:30 pm at night there was something that flew off the back of a truck. I could not move out of the way and ended up running over it. The problem is that when I got off the interstate, I realized my car had a strange sound to it.  When I got to the apartment, I realized there was something very wrong with my car.  As I pulled into the garage and looked, the underside of the carriage, where the plastic covers it up had fallen down and was dragging.  I could not get it to move to try and fix it.

After - can you see the plastic hanging down?

My Jetta going for a ride.  

 Sunday, I set up a service appointment at the VW dealership to see if they can fix it and also for the 40,000 mile service.  I was worried about getting the car there so I contacted AAA and had them come and tow the car to the VW dealership.  The tow truck driver, TC, was fabulous and explained to me about the car and what was happening because apparently you do not tow a VW like you would another car.  There were pieces and parts that I learned about that we were around the Jetta that TC had to manipulate.  The disk in the front had to come off and the tow attachment that sits with the spare tire had to be hooked into the front of the car in order to tow it.  TC explained to me all about the gadgets and what has to be done.  I learned a lot from having my car towed even though it is a pain!    I am hoping the Jetta Baby will be okay in a week or so. We will see!!!  Good thing I still have the Yellow Escape!!!